Annette Iafallo, Mayor

Mrs. Iafallo began her first four-year term as city of Lackawanna Mayor on January 1, 2020. She was decisively re-elected in the November, 2023 General Election to a second four-year term, which began on January 1, 2024. Mayor Iafallo is just the second woman  Mayor in Lackawanna’s 115-year history.

A lifelong Lackawanna resident, Mrs. Iafallo has served in various other elected positions including; City Council President (2018-19), the first female to hold this position in Lackawanna’s history, City Council Member – Second Ward (2013-18) and Board Member – Lackawanna City Schools (2001-07), where she was School Board President from 2005-07. Mrs. Iafallo also was Lackawanna School Board Clerk from 2008-13 and a small business owner in the city for over 40 years.

Since taking office, Mayor Iafallo has worked strategically to grow and diversify Lackawanna’s business economy; highlighted by her gaining City Council approval to implement a unified city tax in 2020, which has since served as a catalyst for over $76 million in new economic development projects.

Mayor Iafallo has also spearheaded the successful renegotiation of long-expired labor contracts with fire, police and public works employee unions and is working with city department leaders, the City Council and other government partners to identify, fund and implement upgrades to Lackawanna’s aging street infrastructure and enhancements to various recreational facilities for the benefit of all city residents.

State of the City – March 18, 2024 – Video
State of the City – March 18, 2024 – Text
Public Information and Media Requests

Welcome to the City of Lackawanna
Where we’re creating a new business economy from the legacy of our storied industrial past.

For over 80 years, the identity of Lackawanna, N.Y. was linked to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. At its peak, over 20,000 people were employed at Bethlehem’s plant in the “Steel City,” which produced steel for many of the 20th Century’s largest construction projects. Foreign competition and adverse business conditions of that era ultimately led to the plant’s closure in the 1980’s, casting an ominous economic shadow over Lackawanna in the nearly 40 years that followed.

Since becoming Mayor in January, 2020 my administration, with support from our City Council, has launched new legislation and initiatives to rebuild Lackawanna’s business economy. And I’m excited to say that a new economic day is dawning in Lackawanna, one offering attractive development opportunities from the legacy of our industrial past. Inspired by the introduction of a highly competitive unified city tax rate and the creation of strong, collaborative relationships with federal, state and county partners, Lackawanna is once again open for business!

The most prominent development opportunities within Lackawanna’s 6.6 square mile footprint lie within the new Renaissance Commerce Park; an effort spearheaded by Erie County and the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, in partnership with the City of Lackawanna, to transform over 200 acres of former steel plant property within the Lackawanna city limits into a modern industrial park for light manufacturing, warehousing and distribution operations. The renaissance branding perfectly symbolizes the development rebirth of both this historic industrial site and the City of Lackawanna. 

Renaissance Commerce Park, located within Lackawanna’s Federal Opportunity Zone and Brownfield Opportunity Area, features a legacy world-class intermodal transportation infrastructure (truck, rail, ship) from the site’s industrial past and Foreign Trade Zone designation from the adjacent Port of Buffalo, the first major U.S. port of call upon entering the Great Lakes. A combined $72 million in new private development projects are in progress on the site, with significant room for more.  

Additional development opportunities, also tailored to light manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, are available just east of the new industrial park on several multi-acre city-owned parcels conveniently accessible from the New York State Route 5 highway. These former industrial parcels also sit within Lackawanna’s Federal Opportunity Zone and Brownfield Opportunity Area.   

Mixed-use development opportunities exist along Ridge Road, the city’s main east/west traffic corridor. Each has a historical connection to Lackawanna’s industrial past and the various multi-ethnic neighborhoods which arose from the steel plant’s growth. These development parcels are just minutes from the city’s cultural center, which includes Our Lady of Victory Basilica, the Carnegie-designed Lackawanna Library and the neighboring Olmstead-designed South Park and Buffalo/Erie County Botanical Gardens.

The City of Lackawanna is proud of its industrial past and excited by the opportunities its legacy provides for creating a new, vibrant future. It’s a great time to locate or expand a business in Lackawanna and we welcome qualified developers to become a part of the next chapter in our city’s rich industrial and cultural history.  

Annette Iafallo
Mayor – City of Lackawanna, N.Y.

CONGRATULATIONS LACKAWANNA MAYOR ANNETTE IAFALLO!

MAYOR IAFALLO NAMED TO BUFFALO BUSINESS FIRST’S POWER WOMEN 200 LIST FOR 2023

Congratulations to Mayor Iafallo for being named to this prestigious list for the third consecutive year – which spotlights the region’s top female executives from across public, private, municipal & non-profit sectors as chosen by Buffalo Business First’s publisher, editor and news staff ‘for their efforts in leading economic, social and cultural growth.’